Ancient Maya Women

Edited by Traci Ardren

Publication date:

20 December 2001

Length of book:

320 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

Dimensions:

235x155mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780759100091

The flood of archaeological work in Maya lands has revolutionized our understanding of gender in ancient Maya society. The dozen contributors to this volume use a wide range of methodological strategies—archaeology, bioarchaeology, iconography, ethnohistory, epigraphy, ethnography—to tease out the details of the lives, actions, and identities of women of Mesoamerica. The chapters, most based upon recent fieldwork in Central America, examine the role of women in Maya society, their place in the political hierarchy and lineage structures, the gendered division of labor, and the discrepancy between idealized Mayan womanhood and the daily reality, among other topics. In each case, the complexities and nuances of gender relations is highlighted and the limitations of our knowledge acknowledged. These pieces represent an important advance in the understanding of Maya socioeconomic, political, and cultural life—and the archaeology of gender—and will be of great interest to scholars and students.
Deftly edited by Traci Ardren, Ancient Maya Women is a fascinating compilation... A very highly recommended compilation of amazing discoveries and extrapolations of a long-ago culture—and an essential, seminal, core addition to Mayan Studies academic reference collections.